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Khurram Khan named to lead Shield Team of the Tournament

ICC announces team of the tournament for the group stage of the ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009-10

Khurram Khan and Arshad Ali have been named in the squad.

The International Cricket Council today announced the team of the tournament for the group stage of the ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009-10, the final of which takes place between UAE and Namibia at ICC Global Cricket Academy from tomorrow (2 December) to 5 December.

The team was selected by a specially assembled panel of experts after the coaches and captains of each of the four competing teams were asked to make their nominations. The players who made the team will be presented with an ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009-10 Team of the Tournament medal.

Not surprisingly, eight players in total from the two finalists (Namibia and UAE) provide most of the team but all four countries are represented. Four of the team are from the UAE, including the captain Khurram Khan, while Namibia provides four more members. In addition, there are three players from Uganda and one from Bermuda.

Only performances in the ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009-10 were considered and all four of the competing teams are represented in the tournament.

"The panel received all the votes and nominations from the captains and coaches of the competing teams and once we had looked at those we discussed our final decision on the team make-up," said ICC High Performance Manager Richard Done, who chaired the panel.

"It is telling that the majority of the team is made up of the two finalists, Namibia and UAE which is a reflection of the hard work and effort the players have put in throughout the Intercontinental Shield.

"The team has a strong opening line-up with a mixture from the two finalists, while Uganda's pace and spin attack also find places in the team.

"This is the first year of the ICC Intercontinental Shield and we've seen good progress from all the four teams involved in the event. The sides' skills have improved continuously with the regular games and playing the four-day format," concluded Done.

The coaches and captains were asked to make the nominations from teams other than their own and they nominated players in the following categories: opening batsmen (two); top/middle-order batsmen (three); wicketkeeper (one); quick bowlers (three); spin bowlers (two) and one additional player from any category, who the coaches and captains felt was deserving of his place.

To be nominated, players must have appeared in at least two out of his team's three ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009-10 round-robin matches. The coaches and captains were also asked to nominate a captain from the players they picked.

To assist the coaches and captains in their deliberations, they were all provided with full statistics and averages providing the leading performances from each of the 12 matches in the ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009-10 group stage.

Once all the votes were collated the five-person panel made its selection.